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I have to say that when I first picked up this book, my thoughts went immediately to the (now ended) t.v. show 'My Name is Earl'. If you know the show, you know why, if not - no worries. However, this book isn't really at all like the show, but it did give me pause to see how/why many people think of Karma as 'what goes around comes around...' As I sat down with this book, I found myself reading faster and farther than I expected at first. I anticipated a dry read, though very informative and interesting. What i discovered, was Bhagavati's easy to read explanations and teachings of what Karma truly is and how we can "influence" or change (or 'break) it based upon our free will and choices. The phrase "food for thought" can definitely be applied to this concise but very enriching book.

Thank you so much for the chance to expand my mind and learn something that will influence my future:) ( )

My thanks to Member Giveaway for this book. Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati gives us an insightful and detailed look into karma and its effects on our individual lives. She explores the so-called Karmic Spaces which she calls "walls in your mind" and extends a helping hand as how to bring those walls down, so as to lead a happier life. Being a believer in karma and reincarnation, I found it very gratifying to have this belief re-enforced. I encountered a lot of familiar to me ideas in this book, but also some that were totally new, as well as some valuable suggestions as how to deal with certain complicated situations. I have a feeling that I will return to this book again and again for a dose of advice.

On one level this is a book about how to set things right in your life, how to have happiness and fulfillment in this world. The guidance works, but why stop there? Beneath the apparent practicality, layer upon layer of deeper wisdom will reveal itself to the thoughtful reader. There may be a temptation to read quickly, and the simplicity of style certainly makes that possible. But this is a book to be read and reread, slowly and attentively, and then lived. The goal is not just a better life – that is only the first step – but true self-knowledge. Particularly through selfless service to others, the practitioner of karma yoga will learn to shed the small, ego-based self and recognize a higher, divine identity; call it Self, God, Brahman, Christ-Consciousness, Ein Sof, or Ultimate Reality. Whatever you call it, if that infinite Oneness is the ultimate simplicity, then the closer one gets, the simpler everything becomes. That is the sort of simplicity that the thoughtful reader will find in this book. In Ma’s own words, it is “an instruction manual to help you find your soul.” And what does that mean? Certainly not an escape from this world, but a complete integration of the inner and the outer life.

Wikipedia in English

The 11 Karmic Spaces reveals how and why most of us become stuck in karma and our habitual patterns of action and reaction. We learn that although karma is a spiritual law, we do not have to be bound by it. Through awareness, intuition and grace, it is possible to choose freedom from karma. Ma Jaya shows us how. Ma Jaya has spent a lifetime learning and teaching about karma. She makes her deep understanding of karma and its role in our everyday lives accessible to anyone who seeks greater awareness.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:16:48 -0400)

▾Library descriptions

Many of us are on an inner journey of some kind. And yet, though we may have come to a place of greater awareness, mental and behavioral patterns often persist that seem to keep us from progressing. Negative emotions, addictions, procrastination, attachments - all keep the soul from fulfilling its deepest purpose. How do we transcend the traps that ensnare us again and again? The Eleven Karmic Spaces describes these traps as forms of karma. We all know the word, yet few understand karma's nuances, traps, and gifts-or how it truly works. Fewer still know how to deal with karma. Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, an American-born interfaith spiritual teacher and mystic, shares her deep understanding in a simple, accessible format designed for anyone who seeks greater awareness to guide his or her life. She teaches us that karma is a spiritual law to which we are all bound, yet there is grace. There is freedom of choice. We have the ability, through developing awareness and intuition, to acknowledge and overcome karma. Ma shows us how. Everyone has the ability to be happy, and everyone has the ability to live in the moment, and yet we find ourselves trapped again and again in old patterns that go far deeper than simple habits. These habits affect us mind, body, and spirit, and hold us back from knowing our true selves. In effect, they hold us back from being in touch with our own perfect souls, which are in harmony with the universe, or with the mind of God, or with whatever we choose to call the deepest reality. This is karma: the patterns that trap us in a limited life. The Eleven Karmic Spaces can serve as a modern path to liberation, or as Ma says, "an instruction manual to help you find your soul." Ma Jaya teaches us that happiness can be found. In fact, it has never been lost because it exists within all of us as pure potential. But karma hinders our happiness, creating a crust or barrier around our deepest selves. At the heart of happiness is freedom, the freedom found in understanding and dismantling the crust of karma. In addition to explaining what karma is and how it works, The Eleven Karmic Spaces teaches the reader how to recognize the karmic patterns, both good and bad, in our lives and how to overcome them. The Eleven Karmic Spaces differs from other books on karma by offering practical solutions, thus serving as a guidebook that can help contemporary people with their lives. Most teachings on karma are closely linked to the doctrine of reincarnation, another idea that is often misunderstood in the West. While Ma Jaya's core teachings include reincarnation, she makes it clear that exploring past lives is not where our focus should lie. It is our lives in the here and now that are important, for it is what we do with each present moment that counts. To offer us a path to follow, Ma Jaya has identified patterns of limitation and self-sabotage that we impose on ourselves. Ma calls these patterns "Karmic Spaces" and has identified eleven of the most common ones, each representing a habitual pattern or the constant repetition of mistakes that bar the way to happiness. A karmic space is like a net in the mind that has captured your thoughts and controls you. That's why it feels as though it keeps you stuck in a kind of space or a place. Ma often refers to the Karmic Spaces as "cubbyholes" because, as we flee to them for safety, they appear to be warm, soft and inviting-the perfect place for the mind to hide out. She offers detailed descriptions of each karmic space, ways to recognize when one is at work in your life, and tools to transcend it. The book also includes stories by those who have used these teachings, to reveal the relevance to ordinary situations.… (more)